If Paula Poundstone told you RW talking points, would you be angry?

The amount of discussion about the politics of Maher/Stewart/Miller/Franken/whoever on DU is a sad commentary on the state of our media, our politics, our comedy, and our discourse.

Discuss!

My point is that when we are reduced to analyzing the ideological conformity of stand-up comedians, we have lost something as rational citizens.

got drunk, and took them for a drive. On the other hand, I was also pissed when her show got cancelled. I guess you could say that Paula Poundstone pisses me off a lot, but I think she's funny.

I'll change the topic to Judy Tenuta if it helps.

Let's talk about how we talk about this particular subject too much?

I guess I got the mistaken impression this was a fun thread where I could just riff a little bit.

Who is Judy Tenuta? The name kind of rings a bell, is she another comic?

She was another 80's comic, not unlike Miller, Franken, and Maher. Stewart came a little later.

Dennis Miller has ridden in Air Force One.

Al Franken is contemplating running for US Senate.

Jon Stewart criticzed the long-running "Crossfire" program and it was cancelled soon after (cause-and-effect?)

Bill Maher has US Senators (such as Joe Biden) on his show.

Monday Night Football's Worst. Commentator. Ever. has flown in Air Force One.

Stuart Smalley could be a senator. Actually, Stuart Smalley reminds me of a lot more of our Dem senators than I'm comfortable with.

A former MTV talk show host can de-legitimize a cable news mainstay.

Something about the undue influence of comedians is depressing.

It means that celebrity trumps substance.

Or that our media is so lacking in substance that it is easily trumped by people who can make a joke.

Or that our country has gone so insane that only comedians can make sense of it.

Or that comedians are our last hope for heroes.

I fell into this last one recently in rooting for Chris Rock to talk some trash about Bush at the Oscars, which Drudge inadvertently helped to hype. Rock indulged me. I liked it. But why is he the only one doing it?

Any way you look at it, something is wrong, and it's depressing.

or Norm Coleman.

I'd choose Al Franken in an instant.

But you see what I'm getting at, right?

I just wouldn't listen to her anymore. Comedians might as well be our spokesmen. Why should Ron Reagan's or Sean Hannity's opinion mean any more than Chris Rock's or Dennis Miller's? It's not like Reagan and Hannity are real journalists. Do they even make those anymore?

Occasionally they spring up out of seemingly nowhere (See Will Pitt), but the industry makes no effort to produce, support, or encourage them.